Southern (NYSE:SO) Now Covered by Analysts at HSBC

HSBC initiated coverage on shares of Southern (NYSE:SO) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm set a “buy” rating and a $99.50 price target on the utilities provider’s stock. HSBC’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 10.06% from the company’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. KeyCorp lowered their price target on Southern from $79.00 to $74.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. DA Davidson set a $98.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Southern from $101.00 to $92.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $95.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.24.

Southern Trading Down 0.3%

SO opened at $90.41 on Thursday. Southern has a fifty-two week low of $81.69 and a fifty-two week high of $99.58. The company has a market cap of $104.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $87.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $92.00.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $6.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.23 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.43% and a return on equity of 12.93%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.79 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Southern will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southern

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in Southern by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 8,380,592 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $808,895,000 after buying an additional 392,210 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in Southern in the second quarter valued at approximately $737,256,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 9.8% in the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,681,674 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $543,793,000 after buying an additional 508,149 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 7.2% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 3,231,400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $311,895,000 after buying an additional 216,900 shares during the period. Finally, National Pension Service increased its position in shares of Southern by 1.9% during the second quarter. National Pension Service now owns 2,932,978 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $280,715,000 after acquiring an additional 54,111 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Company Profile

Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is an energy holding company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Through its subsidiaries, the company generates, transmits, distributes and sells electricity, while also providing natural gas distribution and related energy services.

Southern’s electric utility operations include Alabama Power, Georgia Power and Mississippi Power, which serve customers across Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi. The company’s generation portfolio includes nuclear, natural gas, coal, hydroelectric and renewable energy resources.